Today was the Little Paws Kitten Rescue annual cat show, and I was invited both to judge and to record results as they came up, so it was quite a full day. Judging was fun; as the show was run by the kitten rescue group there were a lot of companion cats in, many more than usual. It made the placings very difficult as they were all beautifully presented and sweet-natured; in the end it came down to such little things as a bit of dandruff in the coat keeping the cat out of the top ten, or a reluctance to engage with me.

My best cat today was a surprise packet, in more ways than one. Firstly I saw on my judges' slip that it was a blue point spay; in my mind, a pointed cat is one of a couple of very distinct body types - either medium boning with medium wedge and semi-longhair like an "oops" kitten from a Ragdoll or Birman, like this - (my Saavik Bacardi aka Princess Fatty Kitten)

or a sleek svelte extreme wedge like a Siamese -

(Arinacourt Beatrice)

Instead the cat that came out of cage 91 was very British in type; slightly squishy face, cobby body, crackly coat, and the pale blue eyes you only find in British / Persian types. Colourpoint British are few and far between so how this little girl came upon her points is a mystery, there are just not enough of them about for them to be turning up as rescue cats. Anyway, whatever her antecedents, she was a sweetheart; snuggled into my hand and then suddenly exploded into action when she caught sight of my feather teaser. Quite a surprise!

I ended up placing her first as she had everything I was looking for; temperament, a willingness to engage with me, playfulness, cleanliness and grooming, I couldn't fault this girl at all. I did vacillate a bit between her and a lovely tortoiseshell girl who kept chatting away throughout the judging but in the end the surprise value of the pointed girl won out.

Afterwards, while signing the award cards, I was again surprised to find that this girl is owned by the president of Little Paws, who just happens to be my best friend. She hadn't said a word about putting the cat in, and I haven't been to her place in a while so had never come across the cat at all. She came into Little Paws as a rescue about three months ago; I don't know her backstory at all but knowing how most of the cats end up there it won't be a pleasant one I'm sure. Nice to see she's landed on her feet. And the best bit is, it looks as though she's going to be adopted by a lady visiting the show who fell in love with her today. Not every cat is that lucky.